PORT ANGELES — Three men vying for the 6th Congressional District seat now held by Rep. Derek Kilmer — William “Greybeard” McPherson, Douglas Milholland and Marty McClendon — laid out their concerns for the district, which ranged from immigration to marijuana to the plight of the planet, at a forum last week.

“Our planet Earth is in grave danger of destruction by our own greed,” McPherson, a nonpartisan candidate and self-described “unpaid citizen lobbyist” from Port Angeles, told about 30 people at the Clallam County League of Women Voters forum at the Port Angeles Senior Center on Thursday evening.

Kilmer, a Democrat from Gig Harbor, had announced earlier that he would send a representative but could not attend the forum.

He was in Washington, D.C., to vote on bills about water and energy development appropriations and to revise tax codes for businesses.

Meadow Johnson, Kilmer's district director, read a statement from Kilmer, who is seeking a second term, and answered questions submitted by the league prior to the debate.

From an iPad, Johnson read Kilmer's statement touting his efforts to put “folks back to work.”

“Having grown up in Port Angeles and having seen the struggles of our local economy, I've dedicated my adult life to trying to help people in the community keep and grow jobs,” he wrote.

“It's why I entered public service in the first place.”

Two of the four candidates for the race will advance to the November general election after the Aug. 5 primary. Ballots for the primary will be mailed to registered voters Wednesday.

Milholland, a commercial diver and Green Party candidate from Port Townsend, said Kilmer and his congressional colleagues are ignoring the threat posed by nuclear waste.

“What happened in Fukushima is a clear warning sign that we must proceed on a path to pursue safety,” he said, referring to the release of low levels of radiation from the nuclear power plant in Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

“I will take to the halls of Congress the question that isn't really being asked by the Republicans or the Democrats in power: Do we really need to build the next generation of Trident nuclear submarines?” Milholland added.